486 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Nymphon giganteum Goodsir, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., toI. sv, No. xcviii, p. 

 293, 1845. — Norman, Rept. of the Brit. Assoc, for the Advancement of Sci. • 

 for 1868, p. 301.— Whiteaves, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov., 1872, p. 347 ; 

 Rept. of a Sec. Deep-sea Dredging Exp. to tlie GuK of St. Lawrence [in 

 1872]. Montreal, 1873? — Verrill, Am. Journ. Sci. and Arts, vol. vii, p. 411; 

 vol. vi, p. 439, 1874. 



1 Njpnplion graciUpes Camil Heller, Die Crufitaceen Pycnogoniden nnd Tunicaten 

 der K. K. Osterr-Ungar. Nordpol-Exp., p. 16, Taf. iv, fig. 15, Taf. v, figs. 1,2. 



Plate V. Plate VI, Figure 29. 



Body very stout, nearly smooth. Neck very short, but deeply con- 

 stricted. Oculiferous segment large, longer than the two following seg- 

 ments united, stout and swollen anterior to the constriction of the neck. 

 Oculiferous tubercle prominent, smoothly rounded. Eyes very distinct, 

 black, ovate. Abdomen small, tapering toward the extremity. 



Eostrum rather large, nearly cylindrical though slightly expanded in 

 the middle. 



Antennae smooth, rather slender; basal joint as long as the rostrum; 

 claws of cheliB remarkably slender and elongated, gently curved, when 

 closed meeting along nearly their whole length ; they are armed along 

 their opposable margins with a series of small spines, which are more 

 erect and much more numerous ui)On the dactylus. 



Palpi much longer than the rostrum; basal joint stout, very short; 

 second and third much longer, nearly equal; fourth and fifth a little 

 less and more slender, sparsely hairy. 



Accessory legs stout, slightly hairy; the thiee basal joints are nearly 

 as broad as long; the following three are much longer, the sixth shortest 

 and about as long as the three basal joints united; the remaining joints 

 are much shorter and more slender, the terminal one acute and claw- 

 like, with a row of spines on the inferior edge ; the denticulated spines 

 vary considerably and are sometimes nearly smooth. 



Legs very long and slender; first and third joints short, about half 

 the second; the three following are very long, sixth longest, fifth 

 shortest; propodus and tarsus slender, nearly equal, hairy; the former 

 is not armed with spines; dactylus long and slender, very acute, about 

 three-fifths the length of the propodus; auxiliary claws very small, 

 about one-fifth the dactylus. Color, when living, light salmon-yeUow, 

 the legs often annulated with broad reddish rings. Egg-masses large, 

 two to four in number, bright yellow. Length of largest specimens 

 15 millimeters; extent 140 millimeters; accessory legs 19 millimeters. 



This fine species is not uncommon; it attains its greatest size on 

 muddy bottoms in deep water. Taken at many localities in Massachu- 

 setts Bay, off Gloucester and Salem; in the Gulf of Maine oif Cape 

 Ann ; Casco Bay 50-70 fathoms ; Eastport, Me. (Professor Verrill) ; off 

 Halifax, N. S.; Bedford Basin, Halifax; Orphan Bank, Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence [J. F. Whiteaves). It is found on all bottoms, though, as a 

 rule, it may be regartled as a ''muddy-bottom species." The observed 



